The North West overtook Greater London as the region with the most business failures, analysis by law firm Shakespeare Martineau has found.<\/p>\n
There were 165 administrations in the North West in the first six months of 2025, 11% more than in 2024.<\/p>\n
Businesses filing for administration dropped by 17% in Greater London meanwhile, to 158.<\/p>\n
Andy Taylor, partner and head of restructuring at Shakespeare Martineau, said: \u201cThe North West becoming the worst-hit region is a significant shift.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis suggests that distress is becoming more geographically widespread, no longer concentrated in Greater London and the South East.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cLocal economic factors \u2013 including legacy pandemic debt, delayed investment and supply chain costs \u2013 continue to weigh heavily.\u201d<\/p>\n
Retail businesses are having the biggest issues, where administration cases increased from 119 in 2024 to 153 in 2025, making it the hardest hit sector, data from The Gazette Official Public Record shows.<\/p>\n
Taylor added: \u201cThe retail sector remains under significant pressure. Despite a slight easing of inflation and interest rates, consumers remain cautious and price-sensitive. Footfall continues to lag and many businesses have not been able to adapt to the new retail landscape.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe drop in manufacturing and construction filings could be the result of earlier failures having already removed the weakest operators. It may also reflect a slowdown in activity, with firms putting investment and hiring decisions on hold due to continued uncertainty.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The North West overtook Greater London as the region with the most business failures, analysis by law firm Shakespeare Martineau has found. There were 165 administrations in the North West in the first six months of 2025, 11% more than in 2024. Businesses filing for administration dropped by 17% in Greater London meanwhile, to 158. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1353,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-second-home"],"yoast_head":"\n